Why do troops and girls who set goals sell more?

Because they set their sights on something tangible and it helps them focus their efforts. Research shows that when girls set goals they reach them!

• Goal setting is a life skill girls can use every day
• Girls who set and reach their goals during the cookie program go on to apply those skills in other areas of their life
• Girls and troops who set goals will almost always meet or exceed those goals – especially if they are written down and shared with someone else
• When girls set and meet their goals, they feel good about themselves and build self-confidence

Goal setting is easy and can be a fun troop activity! Let the girls be creative when setting goals.

Set a troop goal

Using the results of the brainstorming activity from the September issue of the Cookie Sheet, set a troop goal. Examples of troop goals are:

• Sell X number of cases.
• Earn enough money to go to Savannah (or whatever field trip the girls have chosen).
• Sell enough packages to be a Super Troop (information available from your troop cookie manager).
• Sell more cases than last year.

Set individual girl goals

These could be goals based on the number of packages each girl needs to sell to reach the troop goal or it can be an individual learning goal. Examples of girl goals are:

• Sell X number of packages of cookies.
• Sell enough packages to earn a Cookie the Chimp mascot.
• Become more comfortable with public speaking by approaching 10 customers I don’t know. Practice your sales delivery in front of the troop.
• Time management – decide when and where you will go door to door and when you will deliver cookies.

Traveling Mascots

Have you heard about traveling mascots? Traveling mascots are usually a stuffed animal or doll. If your troop is one of the lucky winners of Cookie the Chimp, she could be your troop’s traveling mascot. Your mascot could travel around your troop, service unit, area or even farther. It is similar to a pen-pal project.

Once your troop has a mascot, pick a name and write information about your troop in a journal. You might include pictures of your troop. If your mascot is planning to travel throughout your service unit or area, be sure and include the troop leader’s name and phone number or address. A mascot is a precious thing and she needs to keep in touch while she is away. You might want a backpack or bag to help your mascot keep track of her journal.
Your mascot is now ready to Explore! You can start by having your mascot hosted by the girls in your troop. She could go home with one of the girls. That is when the mascot’s adventure begins! The mascot participates in all the girl’s normal activities during her visit. You could include an inexpensive camera to record those adventures along with the journal. Each girl could write a sentence or two about their adventures with the mascot and draw pictures to go along with their writings. The mascot then returns to your next troop meeting, ready for her next adventure with another troop member.

Now you are ready to find another troop to host your mascot. Check within your service unit or area to see if there are other troops interested in hosting your mascot. If you are hosting a mascot from another troop within your service unit or

area, you can take the mascot to your troop meeting and include her in the activities and crafts or take her on a field trip. There are no set rules for a traveling mascot. No matter what your troop is doing, take pictures of your girls and the mascot and write in her journal. Tell the home troop what your troop did with the mascot. If you made a craft or attended an event, you can include a sample of the craft or a patch or SWAP from the event. The possibilities are endless! Just make sure the traveling mascot is returned in an agreed upon timeframe.

Looking for another alternative to the traveling mascot? Try a Flat Stanley project. In the book, Flat Stanley, by Jeff Brown, Stanley Lambchop is squashed flat by a falling bulletin board. One of the advantages to being flat is that his parents can put him in an envelope and mail him for visits to his friends. Girls can make their own paper Flat Stanley (or Flat Stacie, or Flat Cookie) and begin a journal with him for a few days. Then Flat Stanley and the journal are sent to another troop where Flat Stanley is treated as a guest. Flat Stanley and the journal are returned to the original sender. For more information about the Flat Stanley project visit www.flatstanleyproject.com. Once on the Web site, click on participants, then Girl Guides/Girl Scouts to find other troops who would like to exchange your flat friend.